20 January 2012

The William Nelson Cromwell Foundation has generously funded a prize of $2,500 for an excellent article in American legal history published by an early career scholar in 2011. Articles published in 2011 in the field of American legal history, broadly conceived, will be considered. There is a preference for articles in the colonial and early National periods. Articles published in the Law and History Review are eligible for the Surrency Prize and will not be considered for the Cromwell Article Prize.

The Cromwell Foundation makes the final award, in consultation with a subcommittee from the American Society for Legal History. This subcommittee invites nominations for the article prize; authors are invited to nominate themselves or others may nominate works meeting the criteria that they have read and enjoyed. Please send a brief letter of nomination no longer than a page, along with an electronic or hard copy of the article, by May 31, 2012, to the subcommittee's chair, Alfred Brophy, University of North Carolina School of Law, Campus Box #3380, Chapel Hill, NC 27599-3380 or via email abrophy@email.unc.edu

14 January 2012

After seven years of exceptional service, David Tanenhaus has decided to step down as editor of the Law and History Review, which is sponsored by the American Society for Legal History and published by the Cambridge University Press. The ASLH Publications Committee invites applications for the position. Applicants should be members of the Society who are accomplished legal historians, have the intellectual range to work with manuscripts from different periods and regions in legal history, and are conversant with both law and history. The departmental or institutional support required for the position is usually modest.

The editor's responsibilities include soliciting manuscripts in all fields of legal history, shepherding submitted manuscripts through the peer review and editorial processes, working with the journal's print and electronic publisher Cambridge University Press, and maintaining collaborative relationships with the journal's Editorial Board and the Board ASLH Board of Directors. Production management is the responsibility of the Cambridge University Press. Appointment is for an initial five-year term.

In 2011 the American Society for Legal History made some important changes to its processes for electing Honorary Fellows of the Society. First, it abandoned the distinction it had formerly drawn between Honorary Fellows (limited to residents of the U.S. and Canada) and Corresponding Fellows (the rest of the world). Recognizing that we live in an increasingly globalized world, from now on there will be only one category of Honorary Fellows for all legal historians wherever they may be. (Existing Corresponding Fellows may maintain that title or choose to become Honorary Fellows.) Second, recognizing that the number of legal historians both in the United States and world-wide has greatly expanded in recent years, the society has abandoned any upper limit on the total number of Honorary Fellows that may be recognized at any given time. The only limitation is that no more than three Honorary Fellows may be elected in any given year.

05 January 2012

Harvard Law School is seeking fellows who have a J.D. degree, who have completed the required coursework for their doctorate degree, or who have recently been awarded the doctorate degree. A J.D. is preferred, but not required. We will also consider applicants who are beginning a teaching career in either law or history. The purpose of the fellowship is to enable the fellow to complete a major piece of writing in the field of legal history, broadly defined. There are no limitations as to geographical area or time period.

Fellows are expected to spend the majority of their time on their own research. They are also asked to help coordinate the Harvard Law School Legal History Colloquium, which meets five or six times each semester. Fellows are invited to present their own work. Fellows will be required to be in residence at law school during the academic year (September through May).

Applicants for the fellowship for 2012-13 should address a letter to Professor Bruce H. Mann at the Harvard Law School, Cambridge, MA 02318.